Tom Blomfield: Why Investors are Banking on Generative AI

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“Generative AI is a tidal wave that’s going to continue for the next 10 years,” says Tom Blomfield, co-founder of two $1b+ fintech startups, Monzo and GoCardless.

What’s surprising about generative AI, he says, is the speed at which early-stage companies are deploying models – OpenAI, Anthropic, or open-source models – getting them into large businesses, and achieving revenue. 

“I’ve seen founders raising pre-Seed rounds with $500k ARR, three months after starting the company – it’s astonishing how much value they’re able to generate in such a short amount of time.”

While crypto theoretically solved a lot of interesting problems, Tom says there haven’t been many mainstream applications that traditional companies have paid for.

“Generative AI offers so many applications to normal people and normal businesses; it feels like the exact opposite.”

Click here to read more.

Plus, in our top stories this week:

• Our Founders Forum UK Angels 100 report highlights the 100 most active angel investors in UK companies!
• GPT-4 teaches schoolchildren, autonomous trucks coming soon, and more startup and investor news in our FF Community Wrap!

Founders Forum UK Angels 100

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FF Community Wrap:

DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis told CBS that AI could become self-aware in the future.

Antoine Hubert’s Ÿnsect raised €160m in equity financing .

Aviva’s Ben Luckett announced a £150m commitment to Aviva Ventures and a £1.5m investment in Charlie Bullock’s Scan.com.

Tim Hwang’s FiscalNote received its fifteenth global patent for the AI and machine learning applications.

Moritz Claussen’s cargo.one launched a new agent-to-agent bookings platform for freight forwarders.

Solly Solomou’s LADbible Group claimed it’s the number one news publisher on TikTok.

Shachar Bialick’s Curve launched a new function for crypto rewards and partnered with Tappy Technologies to offer more wearable payments tech.

Brunello Cucinelli partnered with BNL BNP Paribas to improve working conditions for artisans.

Chris Urmson’s Aurora announced plans to launch its autonomous trucking service between Houston and Dallas in 2024 and hired its first Chief Safety Officer.

Salman Khan’s Khan Lab School introduced GPT-4-powered AI tutor, Khanmigo, to support children’s learning.

Inna Braverman’s Eco Wave Power signed Israel’s first ever power purchase agreement to supply electricity generated from waves to households.

Justus Brown’s Acre raised £6.5m in Seed funding from McPike Global Family Office, Aviva, and Founders Factory.

Tommy Stadlen’s Giant Ventures co-led a $4.2m Seed funding round for climate tech startup, Haven Energy. 

Christian Hernandez Gallardo’s 2150 co-led a $46m Series B funding round for energy efficiency platform, Hometree.

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Lead image is credited to Noam Galai/Getty Images for TechCrunch and used under this license. The background of the original image has been removed.